Houston Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney Blog
Texas trust law gives beneficiaries an enforceable right to see how a trust is being run, and that right does not depend on the trustee’s willingness to cooperate. It sits in Chapter 113 of the Texas Property Code and reaches trusts administered in Austin and Travis County the same way it reaches any other Texas trust. While a trustee stays silent, distributions, sales, fees, and investments keep moving through the trust without any beneficiary able to see where the money went.
A beneficiary may make a written demand that the trustee deliver a written statement of accounts covering all transactions since the last accounting, or since the trust was created, whichever is later. If the trustee fails or refuses to deliver that statement on or before the 90th day after receiving the demand, any beneficiary of the trust may file suit to compel the trustee to deliver it to all beneficiaries. That rule is set out in Texas Property Code § 113.151(a), in Subchapter E of Chapter 113.
The Written Demand That Starts a Texas Trust Accounting
A demand for accounting is a written request from a beneficiary asking the trustee to deliver a written statement of accounts covering the trust’s transactions since the last accounting or since the trust was created. The statute conditions the process on that demand being written, so a year of unanswered calls and texts does not start the clock. The 90-day period begins when the trustee receives the demand.
This is where most family trust disputes actually sit. An adult child named as trustee under a parent’s trust may read a sibling’s questions as an accusation, or may simply have let the recordkeeping slide, and neither explanation changes what § 113.151(a) permits the beneficiary to require. A written demand converts an argument about tone into a request with a date attached to it. McCulloch & Miller, PLLC works with Austin and Houston families on how Texas trust planning assigns these duties in the first place.
What a Beneficiary Can Do After the 90th Day
The statute lays out a short sequence, and each step turns on the one before it.
- The beneficiary delivers a written demand to the trustee.
- The trustee has until the 90th day after receiving the demand to deliver a written statement of accounts to each beneficiary of the trust.
- If that day passes with no statement, any beneficiary of the trust may file suit to compel the trustee to deliver the statement to all beneficiaries.
- The court may require delivery on finding that the nature of the beneficiary’s interest in the trust, or the effect of the administration of the trust on that interest, is sufficient to require an accounting.
Two details in that sequence carry real weight. The 90-day period can be extended by a court order setting a longer period, so the deadline is a statutory floor rather than a fixed calendar entry. The right to sue also belongs to any beneficiary of the trust, not only the one who sent the demand, so a single sibling’s demand can open a remedy the others share. Section 113.151(b) separately allows an interested person to file suit to compel a trustee to account.
Travis County has two statutory probate courts, Probate Court No. 1 and Probate Court No. 2. Under Texas Property Code § 115.001, though, the district court holds original and exclusive jurisdiction over proceedings concerning trusts, including suits to require an accounting by a trustee, and that exclusivity yields only where the law confers jurisdiction on a statutory probate court, a county court at law, or one of the other courts the section lists. Identifying the right forum therefore belongs at the front.
How Often a Texas Trustee Has to Account
Section 113.151(a) also sets a limit that runs the other direction. A trustee is not obligated to account to beneficiaries more frequently than once every 12 months unless a more frequent accounting is required by the court. A beneficiary who received a statement in March and demands another in June is asking for something the statute does not compel absent a court order.
That ceiling shapes when a demand should go out. A beneficiary who suspects a problem gets one statutory look per year by default, so the demand is better sent when it can capture the period actually in question. McCulloch & Miller, PLLC advises beneficiaries and trustees across Texas, and helps families in Austin resolve trust administration questions before a dispute hardens into litigation. Flat fees are available for much of this work.
Who Pays for a Suit to Compel an Accounting
Cost is why most beneficiaries stop short of filing, and the statute anticipates it. If a beneficiary is successful in the suit to compel, the court may, in its discretion, award all or part of the costs of court and all of the suing beneficiary’s reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees and costs against the trustee. That award can run against the trustee in an individual capacity or in the capacity as trustee.
The distinction between those two capacities is the part beneficiaries tend to miss. An award against the trustee individually comes out of that person’s own pocket, while an award against the trustee in a representative capacity comes out of trust assets that every beneficiary shares. The statute leaves the choice to the court’s discretion, so a suit to compel is not a guaranteed path to recovering fees. David W. Miller handles estate administration and contested will matters at the firm, and the exposure question is usually the first one a beneficiary asks.
Questions Texas Trust Beneficiaries Ask
Does the Demand for an Accounting Have to Be in Writing?
Yes. Section 113.151(a) describes a beneficiary who demands an accounting by written demand, and the 90-day period runs from the trustee’s receipt of it. A verbal request may resolve the situation informally, and it does not start the statutory clock or preserve the right to sue on the timeline the statute sets.
Can a Beneficiary Demand an Accounting More Than Once a Year?
A beneficiary can ask, and the trustee is not obligated to account more frequently than once every 12 months unless a court requires a more frequent accounting. Where a beneficiary has grounds to believe something is wrong inside that 12-month window, the route runs through the court rather than through repeated demands.
Who Besides a Beneficiary Can Ask a Court to Order an Accounting?
Section 113.151 addresses beneficiaries in subsection (a), and its subsection (b) covers interested persons, who may file suit to compel a trustee to account. That matters where someone with a stake in the trust is not a current beneficiary of it. Whether a particular person qualifies is a question worth answering before a petition is filed rather than after.
Contact McCulloch & Miller About a Trustee Who Will Not Account
A beneficiary who cannot get answers about a Texas trust has a defined statutory remedy, and using it well depends on how your demand is drafted and when it is sent. McCulloch & Miller, PLLC handles trust administration and beneficiary disputes from its Houston offices for families in Austin, Harris County, and across Texas. To discuss your trust accounting demand or a trustee who has passed the 90th day without responding, contact the firm at (713) 333-8900 or through its Houston estate and trust attorneys contact page.